Daily Yellowstone journal., 1887-01-27
THE "vooDoo BAGS" CHARMS.


huc roP1ArttthVos "
OF the Negroes In Their Virtue.
A voodoo bag is an amulet which calls
up and impresses in its deep significance
the superstitious fears, breads and hopes
Of the southern negro. 1t is his guard
against all ills Of flesh and fortune. In
appearance a voodoo bag 10 fiat, rough
ly made pouch of cotton cloth. Stitched
by unskiiled hands, its edges are uneven
and raw. From being suspended around
the neck in its contact with the skin for
1865 days of the year, and, in the case Of
the N which was seen by a reporter
for twenty-eight years, the surfaces had
become begrimed and greasy. A cord
Of cotton rudely knotted held the charm
in position and was like it soiled from
age.
IL was with some feeling and only in
response to repeated and eager inquiry
that the lucky possessor of the charm, q
negro roustabout, who for many years,
''Sence befo'de wah, had been working
on the river, consented to allow its ex-
animation. He would not part with it
under any consideration.
Without any difficulty the pouch was
opened at the top and an inventory Of
the contents made. A wisp of hair much
resembling that used by plasterers, which
it was finally decided was from a dogs
back, came first, closely followed by a
lock which had seen service as the cover
ing of a cat before it became part of the
protector. A little deeper and a chickens
feather, rumpled by contact with a piece
Of rusty nail and a long, sharp tooth,
which had a place in the amulet. was
pulled out. Asmall piece of PAPER such
as one would get by tearing OF one r
ner Of a newspaper, devoid of marks by
pen or pencil, concluded the inventory,
and when each was replaced. the strings
r~eadjustcd and reswung to its place on
the breast Of the owner, the charm was
to all appearances as good as il it had
just left the hands of its maker. Simply
these and nothing more could be found
in the bag.
Nor were there any evident signs of
arrangement. Rather it seemed the
whole had been jumbled together with
out thought. the doctor being out of a
supply Of the other ingredients some
times found in the amulets.
Deed, boss, Use reason to know de
charms all rite. could tell We of many
times it's saved me. Oars wunst when
/ was at Louisville, three of us niggers
was runnin' along the gunnel of a barge
when de line we was carryin' got cotched
and bof de nan in front and de man be-
hind me fell into de rivah and war
drowned'd. Use been through lots o.
sech things and / always cum out rite.
Whar did l git it. OATS way back in
Mis'sippi. When l war a chile | wuz
sickly, and my dad got it fob to make
me well. Use never been rite sick
sense"
Such is the faith, superstitious but il.
limitable, that has taken possession of
the minds of those of the colored race
who from childhood up have heard such
things spoken of in solemn whispers, in
the half light of a cabin in the evening,
or preached by an old man whose i'm.
pressive speech was mixed with meta.
phor and bristling with horrible exam.
pies which have made the pickaninny
creep to his cot and lie awake half the
night thinking of what he has heard.
1t is growing to be a wonder to hear OF
a colored man who practices or breaches
the yoodoo belief. With the education
OF the masses it has died out or been con.
signed to the the darkest n OF the
colonies, where its believers are ever in
fear of detection. To the negro whose
lineage goes back to an ancestor who
came from Africa the idolatrous super,
stition is more predominant, as he car
see and fe'ieve more fully that by the
voodoo rites the gods may be placated.
The powers of the doctor are inherited
from a father or mother who was Sc
gifted, and in the earliest days onl,
rested with the descendants of one tribt
Of Africans. Since they have.been fire.,
these gifted mortals dwelt apart from
their brethren and practiced the blacl
art in solitude or in the presence only OF
the applicant for the exercise of sucl
power, Into the practice entered all tn,
favorite and regulation tools of In,
magician. The caldron boiling ant
seething, the mystic wand and the mys
terious ingredients were there in abund
ance. The connections were not curealls
but made for a specific purpose which
the doctors modesty claimed was AWAY,
accomplished.
BY the death q few years ago of tn,
queen Of the voodoos, who made he
home on the borders of Lake Pontchar
train, Louisiana, the most notable fgur
passed away, and with her many of tn
rites and observances, such as dances, 1,
which the participants stopped onl,
from complete exhaustion, public invo
cations aud offerings.-Pittsburg Dis